Just Another Puppet
by Stupidusernamepolicy
Summary: What Happens when a fantasy crazed four eyes decides to go a step further in the search of paranormal? How will the nervous, ill tempered teen fare living with her cousins in the small town of Gravity Falls for the summer? How will she fare with the darker side of the small town in Roadkill county? We can only ponder. RATING MAY GO UP,CHECK THE FIRST CHAPTER FOR ADDITIONAL WARNINGS
1. Welcome To Gravity Falls

**A/N: Wowie that was a long hiatus.**

 **I dropped everything to get the most out of the end of the school year with the fading motivation I had (counting the flute and solfeggio exams to finally finish classical primary music school) and then decided against writing because I wasn't feeling it. Kinda selfish for a neurotic author, eh?**

… **Does that even make sense?**

 **Anyways, I watched Gravity Falls, something I've wanted to do for MONTHS, but something always got in the way. And when I did HOLY HELL I should've seen the ending coming with all those spoilers but it hurt as bad as knowing it's coming. The feels encased me in constant thirst for the feels so, once again, I searched the tags, I made an OC, I felt the incredible need to read and write fanfics.**

 **But nothing sat quite well, so I decided to do another dum-dum idea flow into a work, again about an OC. Will maybe draw it when I get back home but don't expect much, I suck at backgrounds and varied positions, plus it's not gonna be long before school comes along. Just a thought for now, yeah.**

 **It's gonna contain characters from the show and play in the Roadkill county of Gravity Falls, but the focus is gonna be mostly the character and our favorite diabolical triangle.**

 **As always with me, no ships. Sparing those who don't want those, and excusing myself to those that want it. Really not that big on writing anything more than friendship and platonic.**

 **Now then, introduction, excuses, clichés, let's get on with this.**

 **Lastly, Warning for blood and mental instability. Maybe not right off the bat, but we'll be getting there.**

 **And lastly lastly, _I don't own Gravity Falls!_**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1: Welcome To Gravity Falls**_

" _Why did I come here again…?"_

" _Oh right. Paranormal."_

" _Let's get this on with already, I don't want to stay in this hick town if there's nothing interesting"_

A girl in her very early teens walked down from the bus. God, it had been a nauseatingly long drive. Prior to that flight. Prior to that more driving.

She was dragging a suitcase that, compared to the mass of bags, handbags and backpacks slung on her and the biggest one made it seem almost small. Looked like too much stuff to put on a girl that looked like she was just skin and bones, for the most part. And not surprisingly, her legs were trembling a bit

"God, where are those two?" she spoke with a strong accent; clearly from Eastern to Mid Europe. First people would probably assume she's Russian, and that'd leave them with dirty looks and her muttering stuff in her mother tongue that would probably resemble "small minded bastards", "idiots" or "I'll give you a nice game of Russian Roulette if you call me that again, you stereotyping bastard"

Yes, she was an ill tempered girl. Tired from the long path she's traveled, annoyed by how Americans actually fit the descriptions in her country around the capital, and mostly angry at the incompetence of the two people who _should've_ picked her up fifteen minutes ago.

If not for the fact she couldn't remember which bag and pocket she put her- probably dead -phone, she would've given them a piece of her mind.

And as if on cue, two men, most likely in their mid twenties, unlike her dressed in fitting clothes for the Oregon climate, obviously brothers came to her, speaking in very fluent English, greeting her. They were just like anyone else at the station, though the composure of their faces in general made them stand out a bit, to the trained eye. Then again, the US was a very diverse country. Still, that was much closer to the capital and kind of deteriorated when you went into the..

Oh look at her, jumping down her own throat again. Who was the pompous assuming bastard now?

"Hey, you doodie heads, what's the hold up?" she shifted under her bags uncomfortably, as a subtle was of saying 'Help me with those annoying appendages digging into any and every sore spot.', legs promptly looking as if they were about to give away any second, but didn't. And the smug duo knew that they wouldn't anytime soon, yet took a few bags, including the surprisingly light though biggest suitcase.

"Sheesh, don't look so pissed Eri. There was a traffic jam."

"You know mom doesn't like you using that kind of language in front of me."

"You swear like, twice as much as we do." the other one spoke

"The real hypocrisy is that mom taught me most of those.." she replied rather sternly as she walked, especially small among the particularly tall brothers.

"Gee, don't be such a party pooper, cuz. Thought you were excited to come here."

"I was, and I am, but one cannot really contain much of that after 12 hours in a bloody plane and a trip cross country."

The two looked at each other and shrugged it off, continuing to walk to their car.

The thing was old and beaten up, but still drivable. The girl, Erika, sat onto the back seat silently, not wanting to discuss why the back seat smelled weirdly of mint mixed with beer and vinegar. It stung her nostrils, but she just opened the window and added a joking: "It smells like a bachelor salad died back here.", getting a small chuckle from the duo.

And that's just what they were, bachelors.

Though some would consider it a perfect time to marry, the two stayed single, living together even after college. Currently, they were businessmen currently working for the Northwests, a rich snarky family that was up everyone's asses about how superior they were. Their work, which varied between the two, one finished economical school at a very good university and other an architect, didn't do much outside of their own home, yet raked in some good cash. Erika would rather bite her tongue off than admit that she admired their tactic and lifestyle.

Though it had become apparent when she moved in, that lifestyle, though exactly for her, wasn't really something she could live with the whole year. She doesn't mind the stench of her own sweat that much, but when it's someone else's she's not keen on being around them for too long.

They had a small house a street or two from the town square, and it _reeked_ of dirty socks, stale sweat hidden by air fresheners and cologne and… wait, was that perfume?

Again, lifestyle for her, not to live with.

The guest room upstairs wasn't much, but it was mostly clean and ready for her. She made a mental note to thank them for at least that, as she took on the task to sweep out some bugs, killed either by the nauseating smell of bleach and fabric softener or mild insecticide. Ugh, it's going to take time to get the smell out.

 _Oh well, open window and scented berry candles will have to work._

She changed into more comfortable, less wrinkled and less sweaty clothes right away, not bothering to shower.

* * *

She spent the rest of the day unpacking and searching the floor for squeaky spots to mark because, by far those were the things that annoyed her the most. That is, until she found out that there was stuff she could hide under those.

Another mental note, that might be useful for later. She wrote the number of steps from the doors and directions on a sticky note which she pressed onto the wall near a bench by the window.

Before long it had been dinner time. Her cousins have ordered pizza, not bothering to ask her which toppings she'd like. Though it hardly mattered to her, even though she took notice. It wasn't like she had any food allergies, and she didn't understand why people got upset over such small things. But most of all, she hadn't had anything to eat in almost 5 hours.

There were no leftovers.

"what a day..." she mumbled softly, setting her rectangular glasses on the counter and looked at the small table mirror she brought from home, because it wasn't like she could spend limitless time in the bathroom, and there are hardly any mirrors around the house.

She was a girl from a Slavenian country. It was hard _not_ to distinguish that from her voice. Though her overall physical appearance didn't match it. She was a little too short for her age, not grown an inch for a year, her skin a soft, light shade resembling one of melted caramel, her fluffy, messy shoulder length hair a dark shade of brown and the face composure in general had resembled that of a girl from Spain or Portugal, perhaps even a stretch to say, Sicily. She always passed it off as some weird gene, counting none from her family she knows comes from those parts. Hungary? Maybe. Any country in the Southern Europe? Fat chance.

Yet, being a little self absorbed at times, she thinks it makes her an enigma of some sort. An mystery if you may. Though, a non biased source would say it was a legacy of some ancestors. Genes can stay hidden.

Though, to add up to it, or maybe just seal the deal she refuses to speak from which country she is from, and instructed her cousins not to speak of it. They passed it off as a quirk of hers and played along, not really seeing why not.

She had stared back into the reflection of her own, slightly droopy Russet brown eyes before taking note of the noticeable bags under them. If she cared even a slightest bit, she would use makeup to cover them up.

Though, her whole family knows about her all nighters, and not that any stranger would care more than them. Plenty of people had them.

" _Not people your age"_ a voice rang through her head

"Shut up already, I've heard that from you alone a thousand times." she said to nobody in particular, rolling her eyes and pushing the mirror away. Not that it made that much of a difference.

She took out a hard covered book she painted the cover over so that the words "Diary" couldn't be seen anymore. Instead, the title was written in chicken scratch, saying something resembling "Myths and Legends", with a dragon head breathing fire as well as a dorky gnome that resembled Santa Claus were drawn. In the lower right corner, now almost unreadable were words "Do **not** touch!" the word 'not' underlined twice and written more legibly than the rest.

She put it on the far end of the table, front cover down and took off her necklace. Funny little trinket, actually. It was a triangle in a circle. The circle had even lines cut in, making ten small fields on it, and the triangle was the curious deal. It was with equal sides a big eye engraved in it with a thin, barely noticeable slit in the middle of it. It also had engraved something like a bow tie, as well as shallow lines like bricks. To see that, she really needed a magnifying glass.

She found it in her grandmother's basement after she passed away, during a game of spin the bottle one winter after the funeral when the whole family was snowed in; she had to go deep into the basement and bring a proof that she actually went that deep, and she found the pendant. She thought it was neat, so she kept it and later, just out of curiosity had it looked at. Real gold. Who would've thought?

And though she searched the web far and wide, she found nothing on a thing like that. Just a few conspiracy theories she heard and read about a trillion times ago, particularly the Illuminati one.

Shrugging all that off, she actually grew fond of the thing and now wears it at all times. She says it has an "air of mystery", though she still has her doubts that it's just some crazy thing her grand, grand, grandmother or grandfather, had requested to be made. Well known art seeking cuckoos, they were. She placed the necklace atop the book and checked if she locked the window, then plopped down onto her bed, falling asleep relatively soon.

That night, she heard faint whispers all across her, as usual, bizarre dreams.

Annoyingly enough, she was not able to decipher them completely.

Though the echoes of them rang through her head in the morning..

 _Gravity…_

 _Fear…_

 _One…_

* * *

 **A/N: A regular boring ol' starter chapter. Y'know, basics about character personality, bit of backstory, partly explained situation, the bare bedrock for the story. I'm predicting this one won't be that long, but hey, I've made an oneshot into a threeshot a year or two ago that I** _ **still**_ **haven't finished. Oh well.**

 **Might post this on Ao3 one day, highly doubt it'll be soon, unless I make friends with someone already in the community. Kinda a shame.**

 **Expect the next chapter… Well, I don't know when, I hope real soon.**

 _ **Preview!**_

 **The protagonist walks around town and has a couple of run ins with our well known folk. What does the town hold for her interests? Will the namely mysteries quench her desire for some abnormality? See in the next update!**

 _ **As always, Reviews and/or favorites = Happy Admin = Quicker and better quality updates!**_


	2. Angry Clusterfuck vs Gravity Falls

**A/N: Don't know when I'll update this, but know I've started working on it right after I uploaded the first one!**

 **Seriously, I've got big plans on this story. True, I've still got things to fill in to make it more lengthy and interesting, but for now I have it sketched out in base lines up to the very end. And we should be getting to the meat of the story real soon. Possibly even by the end of this chapter! If not, it may be a bit short. Eh, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.**

 **So yeah, this will mostly be Erika going through the town, searching for anything out of the ordinary.**

 **Brace yourselves….**

 **For a probably as slowly moving chapter as the last one, yeah.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 2:**_

 _ **Angry Clusterfuck meets…**_

 _ **An Ordinary town..?**_

"What's up with this place?

Erika had departed from the house that was her home now, until the summer ends. Which… in retrospect, isn't a very long time.

In the noon heat of early June, Erika stubbornly stomped through the town in clothes of dark shades, carrying a faded dark blue pouch around her waist. Though she was already sweating a lot, she pretended the Sun just wasn't there and made her way into the forest.

To the famed Mystery Shack.

Well….

She didn't know what to expect.

It was just another stupid tourist trap.

Just like five thousand the bus driver had stopped near for people to stretch their legs.

She felt a bitter sensation dance across her taste buds upon hearing the nonsense the old man had been talking about _clearly_ stuffed and stitched together animals and the worst part is that the tourists _were buying it._ Literally. I mean really, Jackalope? She couldn't will away the frown even if she tried.

Searching for anything remotely helpful and trying to tune out the old crook as he talked about something he called a Mystery Bag that makes your money disappear.

After about half a hour going through useless souvenirs she came to a conclusion that a couple of thousands "No refunds" signs pointed towards at least 40 feet from the rundown building.

It really was just a dumb souvenir shop run by a Con Artist.

Speaking of the old fart, trying to interact with him had only made her angrier, as he wouldn't talk with any "Smarty Pants" sniffing around his shop without buying something, and then proposed a tour for 20 bucks to reserve for an "Haunted after-closing-time Tour" after she bought a magnet, still avoiding a straight answer. He even had the nerve to ask her if she was a narc or something of that kind!

She stormed outside, mumbling to herself;

"Mystery Shack? More like Mystery Hack..." she had stopped not a second after the statement to look at the sign and cracked a small smile, finding humor in the foreshadowing the sign gave her.

"Oh my God that is _rich_ " she whispered with a quiet snort.

Though, just the happiness had been just as short lived as the subtle jump in her walk, and the laugh itself.

It wasn't long before she sat down at a Coffee shop and ordered just that; a large cup of coffee. The waitress gave her a weird look, but brought her the order.

 _It might've been because I'm apparently too young to be drinking caffeine._ she thought, occupying her mind with something other than the mental bitterness, and enjoyed the other, much more soothing bitter of the coffee instead, _or it might've been the fact that it's nearly 30 degrees out and I'm ordering a hot beverage rather than some soda._

 _Who cares, we had worse back at home at this time._

 _Should I call my family?_

 _.. Nah._

She finished her cup of coffee with downing the glass of water she ordered with it.

 _Maybe it's too soon to give up._ She thought, _After all, there's another guy claiming to be a spawn of the supernatural._

 _And I haven't even gone into the woods yet._

 _Besides, don't things like that usually happen there?_

* * *

 _Another Failure._

 _Turns out "Lil' Gideon's Tent Of Telepathy" was another hoax._

 _Should've probably watched the commercial before paying 10 bucks for an admission._

 _10 dollars to sit in a crowded tent, watching some short, fat kiddo who uses more hair product in one day than she did in her entire life dance for a couple of minutes._

 _Such humiliation._

Burned once too many times by the business phonies of the town, she resorted to her cousins for directions. And they were more help than she thought they'd be.

They said that the paranormal of that town is a gold mine for the con artists, and told her of every store putting up the front, before announcing it's dinner time and scooping her to go to the diner nearby.

The next morning they'd woken her up after mere 5 hours of sleep, saying that they've got a lot of stuff to do so that she'd have to go get the groceries.

Promptly swearing in her mother tongue on her way out, she rubbed sleep out of her eyes once again and headed for the store she saw not far away.

"Closed on Sundays." she read aloud before storming off down the street. "Great, the next one is half a mile away at the least."

Yet, she walked, already knowing it's gonna be at least 30 degrees Celsius out by noon. Turns out, waking her up to do it early had been an act of mercy.

She didn't see it like that.

After buying everything her cousins had asked her to- well, more like wrote it on a crumpled up old sticky note, she walked outside, eye sliding over to a slightly familiar face of a tall, Red haired girl in a green flannel shirt.

It had been a while before she realized she'd been staring.

And she wouldn't have, if the girl hadn't noticed too. She snapped her gaze away and continued walking.

"Hey, dude." The tall redhair spoke, causing Erika to stop in her tracks. "Do I know you?"

She let out a quiet breath.

This was a conversation she'd rather not be having.

"I believe you're the cashier at that tourist trap yesterday." she said with a deadpan voice, turning around. Her face changed, into a slightly discomforted grimace.

"Oh right," she smiled when the memory dawned on her, "You're the kid that stood up to my boss. Never really seen any visitors do that."

"Well, maybe they should have..." she quietened down her voice even more, squeezing the bags, "Also I'm nearly 14. I'd prefer not to be called a kid."

"Really?" she tilted her head, "You seem younger."

"Yeah yeah, the height, I get that a lot." Erika replied, voice gradually quieting down to a murmur. After a silence for a few moments that seemed like minutes she straightened up, shifted bags into one hand and put the other one out.

"N-name's Erika Langli."

"Wendy Corduroy." she shook it.

"R-really? Weird coincidence.. Y-you know, because your shirt.."

"Huh? Oh, that. I get that a lot as well. Kinda weird ya didn't laugh, most at my school do."

"Eheh.. I don't really joke with people I've just met.." She replied with an awkward smile, scratching the back of her head. The sweat was starting to itch. God, she should've showered yesterday, "B-but anyways, it was nice meeting you."

 _My hand was probably all sweaty too._

 _God, why the hell are those bags always made of plastic?_

 _Hah, weird to mention those two in the same sentence._

 _You're talking to yourself again._

 _Though she's really pretty I hope I didn't leave a bad first impress-_

"Dude, you okay?" the older girl gave her a weird look. What did she do now? "Your face's kinda flushed and you're making weird faces."

 _Oh._

 _So that._

"N-nevermind that, it's just the heat. probably should've worn something else.." she replied rather apologetically, discretely dropping a handful of greasy hair she ripped off her own scalp absently.

"Now that I think about it, I haven't seen you around, you here with your parents or something?"

"W-well, I am visiting, but not with my parents. I'm pretty sure you know Isaac and Ivan.."

"Woah, no kidding, you're related to those two party animals?" Wendy immediately seemed a bit more interested. Erika appreciated that, even though she'd much rather be showering and thinking about this conversation. She could feel utterly embarrassed by her poor social skills under a stream of cold water.

"Age difference and different overall appearances may not make it so obvious, but yeah. They're my cousins."

"Awesome, dude." Wendy continued, "They always threw the best parties around, or so I heard. Just when I could go they got all work mode, you know?"

"Yep… Not much free time, working for the Northwests.."

"True man."

 _. . ._

 _Come on, say something or go!_

"S-so… What are you doing here? I-I mean, are you waiting for someone?"

And right on cue, a teenager with short, black messy hair walked to them. He wore a black hoodie with a stitched up heart on the front, fingerless gloves and…

 _Ew, are those piercings? And mascara?_

 _There are three on the gay ear too..._

"Hey Wendy." he said in a leisure tone before turning to Erika, "Who's this toddler?"

Outside, it was just twitch of an eyebrow.

Inside, he just blew a fuse.

 _Thousands of fireworks like friggin' fourth of July are about to set off and it is_ _ **not**_ _going to be nice._

"Oh hey Robbie, this is Erika, moved in to spend the summer. You know, the Razicky Sibs?"

 _Ah. So that's what they call themselves._

"Oh right, those." he flicked his head a bit to get the bangs out of his left eye.

 _We both know you don't want them out, Moody._

"And may I ask who are _yo_ u, really?" a note of coldness seemed to catch his attention. Though she received no reply.

 _Typical._

"… Don't you have anywhere else to be kiddo?" he said after a short staring contest before turning to Wendy in a subtle, but still friendlier note, "So, Wendy, we got rehearsals, if you wanna listen or whatever."

 _Oh I see your moves, jackass. Cheap flirting skills and petty insults. Two can play at that game._

"Rehearsals?" she said, throwing in a hint of flattery. "You're in a band?"

"Well, duh. Robby V. and The Tombstones." he rolled his eyes. God, how he grated her nerves. Did she act like that? No, impossible. "Not your type of stuff kiddo. Pretty dark."

She took in a breath. He really couldn't take a hint.

Though, she could see he noticed her tone, and was eating it up.

 _It's almost like he's a woman, to notice that kinda stuff._

She bit down a laugh at the thought.

 _God, how I love my own jokes._

"You sure, V? Because if you compare our skin tones. we could see who's naturally _darker_."

"Look guys, I gotta go, nice talking to ya both." Wendy said, walking off. Good, she didn't seem to pick up on the passive aggressive remark.

Though as soon as she left, Robbie seemed as if he took off a mask.

"Scram, kid. if you know what's good for you."

"And you stop calling me kid, goat cheese." she picked her bags up again and walked off, the thick air of arrogance from those eight words still lingering in the air.

"You've picked the wrong guy to mess with, newbie." He continued, picking up after her and towering above her as she turned around, face as uninterested and apathetic as his often is.

 _Oh my God, this is_ rich _._

"Yeah yeah, get off your high horse. I'm pretty sure _Wendy_ wouldn't be too keen on you hitting a younger girl." as soon as he opened his mouth to speak she continued, a smug smile stretching across her features "You see, _Robbie_. Two can play at this game."

She turned away, using the tone of intimidation to hold the tense silence she adored as much as that feeling, _and_ her _smile_.

"And by the way, your piercings are on the gay ear."

"What-? Are not!" he held hand to the ear with extra piercings.

"Right ear's the gay ear, V!"

* * *

 **A/N: Wowie, the conversation stretched for longer than I thought. However I really wanted to write this, just the transition between a nervous mess into a smug jackass.**

 **Expect the next one soon!**

 _ **EDITED!**_

 **And remember..**

 ** _ **Reviews and/or favorites = Happy Admin = Quicker and better quality updates!**_**


	3. What Happened In The Woods?

**A/N: WELP, again writing this right when finishing the last one. With this one, the gap between the two chapters is roughly 10 minutes. Been a while since I did a continuation like that.**

 **Now I really hope I get this one done soon.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 3:**_

 _ **What Happens In**_

 _ **The Woods, Stays**_

 _ **In The Woods**_

 _Oh my god, that was RICH!_

 _If only they could see his face!_

"Boo hoo, look at me, I'm Robbie V of Robbie V and The Wusses and I just got owned by a girl at least two years younger than me!" she imitated his voice in a much lower pitch

Erika had sat down in the shade of trees, resting on a stump and laughing to herself.

"That pretty boy won't bother me anymore, no siree! And if he does..."

… _. Well, if he does let's just hope I get riled up by his nonsense enough to get in the zone. If not then, verbally speaking, I'm toast._

She wiped a tear and breathed out, "Just lucky Wendy di'nt hear that mess.. Too bad, if she wasn't good with that snide ass, she probably would've found funny."

"What does the 'V' stand for, Vermin?" she mused, letting out another breathy giggle

"Ah, been a while since I laughed like that..." she leaned back on her arms, palms against the gigantic tree stump and looked into the sky, "This is a pretty nice spot… How did I get here again..?"

She quickly took out a pen and paper and started drawing a sketchy map from the store to the stump the best she could remember.

She seemed rather satisfied with the end product.

"There! Now… I'd better get going before the food manages to spoil or somebody hears me talking.."

That evening All three residents of the "Casa Razicky" ( _That's_ _how they called the place, anyways._ Why _though, is beyond me._ ) were dining together.

The life there was pretty nice, she guessed. She didn't interact that much with the other two residents, and the silence was mutual. Though, the _fun_ part was that they allowed her to drink coffee and stay up late, because if they didn't they'd be massive hypocrites. Life was simple, the life was sweet, despite the fact they mostly ate takeout, frozen or what Erika managed to pull together.

Today, she had made pasta for dinner as her cousins claimed to be "swamped", though she could hear the sound of their old Gameguy coming from Isaac's study.

She didn't mind, though, as she was still in a good mood that even improved after she took a shower. And her cousins were proving to be a mine of useful info.

Though, they appeared more chatty with food in front of them.

"So, uh… You two know any teenagers in this town?"

"Why? Lookin' for friends?" Ivan asked, swallowing a mouthful of spaghetti

"No, I just.. ran into few on the way from the store. Names Wendy and Robbie ring a bell?"

"You mean the Corduroy girl and Valentino kid?"

"Yeah. You know them?"

"Nah, we know their parents. We're good with the girl's dad, Dan. But the Valentino couple gives us the heebie jeebies."

"Real cheerful for owners of a Funeral Home."

"But their kid's everything but." Isaac added on immediately, not looking up from his plate, "Sarcastic, distant. Pain in the rear end to talk to."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Erika rolled eyes in acknowledgement, but a hint of the smug smile from just hours earlier crept onto her features.

"He also brags how he spray painted the 'Explosion' on the water tower."

"… That was an explosion? Boy, he should take some art classes instead of moping, some kid will mistake it for a muffin."

"You mean like you did?"

"… Shut up."

The two laughed

"You guys are terrible." she punched their shoulders but smiled despite herself.

Later, she had made the two clean up, as "she cooked so they clean up."

She went up to her room and sat down at the desk, putting her phone to charge even though she hasn't really used it since the trip. No Internet connection, calls cost a lot more than back home, and she has an old Polaroid and another cheap digital camera in her backpack. Not more use of it than as a watch.

She took her "journal" and glued the route to the tree stump into it, then proceeded to stuff it into her backpack along with a small pencil case and a few other things then ran downstairs.

"I'm going to the woods to check something out!"

"Be back before 11 and all the stuff. Don't wanna lie if your mom calls."

"Got it."

And with two skips she was out of the house, heading for the woods. She was soon at the "Not a super market." shop.

 _What a creative name._

Not long before she got the hard covered diary out of her bag and snapped open the page where the route was. And sure enough, before long she was at the large stump. She sat there for hours, scribbling into the book and exploring the area around.

She noticed a waterfall and a creek, _that'd be useful for later_ , she thought and marked it in the diary.

She wrote all kinds of stuff, how that place has a more peaceful aura, how strangely, the bugs don't bite there.

It was the perfect spot.

And it seemed like apart from whoever cut down the gigantic tree she was sitting on, nobody else knew for it.

 _Perfect, indeed._

 _I hope it stays that way_

When the moon rose up she was at the stream, dipping her sore feet in the cool water.

"Well, if nothing, at least I found this place. Looks like a perfect place to monitor the paranormal. Fairies in particular."

Suddenly, a stray, seven letter thought crept through her head, leaving a slight ring

 _Gravity…_

"..Wha?" she picked her ear

 _Fear…_

 _One..._

Her head spun momentarily at the words. They seemed oddly familiar. The _feeling_ seemed oddly familiar.

She took off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. It was like getting up too quickly times three.

But just like that, it was gone.

"What the hell was that?" she said to no one in particular, adjusting the glasses back onto her face.

 _Falls…_

 _Beast…_

 _Eye..._

"Gah!" the sensation repeated, but stronger. She rubbed her eyes in an attempt to get the darkness that wasn't darkness out of her eyes. So _that's_ what being blind felt like.

 _When…_

 _Earth…_

 _Just…_

Pressure in her head grew uncomfortably as she stood up and instinctively stumbled away from whatever was causing.

And apparently, her instincts thought that the danger was in the creek, and that back to a pine tree was the better alternative.

"Stupid asscracking tree.." she clutched her head.

 _Great, now it hurts in two places._

Though, the sensation faded and she could think more clearly. And as soon as she could, she ran back to the stump, forgetting about her boots entirely and wrote the words down, which was not an easy task as they were fading fast.

"Gravity, fear, one… Falls, beast, eye, when, earth, just… The hell is all that supposed to mean?" She stared at the words, but ultimately gave up, mind blank.

"Maybe it was all just headache mumbo jumbo."

 _Maybe it wasn't._

 _MAYBE IT WAS._

"Ugh, I'm hoping for too much when my own thoughts sound like static."

 _Maybe the words have some meaning._

 _IT PROBABLY ISN'T WISE TO REMEMBER THEM._

"But they could mean something."

… _Wait am I arguing with myself?_

 _APPEARS SO._

"And I've gone bonkers." she dropped her head to the stump, "Who knew a headache was all it took?"

"… I'm gonna have a bruise." she closed the book and stuffed her things back into the backpack, when back to get her boots (And immediately regretting she left them by the creek) then headed back home.

 _Are We going back here tomorrow?_

 _DEFINITELY._

* * *

She marked the pathway from the "perfect spot" onto the first real street on her way back and realized it's a longer way than she originally thought.

 _I'm gonna consider myself lucky to make it before midnight._

And what a stroke of luck, she returned right before the clock at their house (Which is at least half an hour late) struck 11 PM. She made herself a sandwich and went up to her room, putting a bolt on the door. As soon as she looked at the time on her phone and the digital clock on her desk, her suspicions were confirmed

 **11:43 PM**

 _Alright, it isn't too late, I've still got time._

At least three more hours she tried to make sense of the words. Three hours to no avail.

 _Maybe it's a code, or a jumbled up message?_

 _It doesn't seem complete, though.._

 _What do you think?_

… _._

There was no response, as any normal person would suspect.

No sign of the erratic, loud voice in her head she heard in the woods; the opposing, different thought never surfaced. She wrote that down as well.

Yet, she couldn't help feeling watched.

After half an hour of even _more_ slowed process she let out an exasperated sigh, proceeding to close and lock the window, pulling the curtains together as well as really locking the doors. _Just in case_ she thought, putting a handkerchief over the small mirror on her table. She knew she was being ridiculous, but it helped her think straight.

Or at least _straighter._

 _Not as straight as in the forest though._

She shook the thought off and continued looking at the words, gaze frequently slipping back onto the text she wrote about the headache and the weird thoughts, so to speak.

After a while she realized that "examining" turned into stubborn staring. Her eyes felt scratchy.

 _This is pointless._ was the last thought she could remember.

* * *

The next morning she woke up completely oblivious of her surroundings.

What she did pick up was that she was still at the desk, that she slept with her glasses on and…

Was that a piece paper sticking to her forehead?

To anyone else, it'd just look like her hand slipped or something, but she realized it was her chicken scratch.

Though she did not remember writing that.

"In the weird dreams, I'll be watching." she read out loud

 _Weird dreams? I don't remember any weird dreams…_

 _Though I think I saw that necklace…_

 _And the creek…_

 _And.. Fairies?_

 _Barfing fairies._

 _Wait, where_ is _the necklace?_

She didn't remember taking the weird thing off.

But it wasn't hung around her neck as usual either.

When looking around the desk she caught a glimpse of the digital clock.

 **6:25 AM**

She groaned, taking off her grease stricken glasses and rubbing her face.

 _All that time wasted and I've still got nothing._

She dropped herself onto her bed when she noticed something glimmer faintly into her eyes.

Her necklace had bounced out of her pocket and onto the bed.

 _How did it get there?_ She sat up and looked at the pendant.

After what she assumed was minutes she finally realized he'd been staring.

Again.

She fell flat onto her back and pushed the necklace onto the desk.

 _Maybe I'm overthinking this?_

 _Or maybe this is all a dream?_

 _But then that would mean the note I apparently left to myself is a dream too._

"Uggghhhh..." she slammed a pillow in her face "Go to sleep already you stupid brain."

After half an hour more she gave up and got up, going straight downstairs to make herself breakfast.

She smeared a thin layer of nougat spread over toast and munched, her mind still reeling.

Just as she was finishing she heard the coffee bubbling softly so she turned off the stove and poured herself some, leaving plenty for her cousins who, sure enough came over to kitchen quickly.

"Yo, cuz." Ivan said looking to her while pouring coffee, "How come you're up so early?"

"Woke up.. Couldn't sleep.." she mumbled, looking over the newspaper blankly and sipping her coffee.

"Blegh!"

"Something wrong?"

"This coffee's so bitter!"

"Yeah, so? That's what coffee's supposed to be like. A good pick-me-up." she said flatly, flipping a page, "Not like that black man sweat you make. Just add some milk and sugar."

"Do I smell coffee?" Isaac walked in, carrying a bunch of scrolled up A3 size papers Erika supposed are blueprints.

"And do I smell Aftershave?"

"Past the coffee, hardly." Ivan stuck out his tongue, looking down to his cup.

"Gotta be at the top of my form today!"

"Meeting with the Northwests?"

"I'm presenting the blueprints to the new part of the mall, they wanted to make it one wing bigger!"

"Let me guess, another _Northwest_ Wing?"

"Ha ha hahahaha." Isaac rolled his eyes sarcastically, though she got a snicker out of Ivan, " _Very_ funny. But I've gotta get going." he poured the rest of the coffee into a thermos and ran out with his bag and bundle of rolled up papers.

".. Hey, Ivan." Erika spoke as soon as his brother was out of the house, "I've heard there are weird things going around this town. Like, ghosts and stuff."

"Oh yeah, especially in the forest. At least people say so, I never saw anything out of the ordinary myself. You're, uh, into that stuff, right?"

"Where did people say they usually saw things?"

"Whoa, hey, stop right there. Are you planning on investigating that nonsense?"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. But most of all I'm just curious. So, where?"

"… Ugh, you know I hate that look. Fine, tourists brag how they've seen most on the east of the town, not that far from that tourist trap. Just don't get lost, 'kay?"

"Yeah yeah, be back by lunch."

"I moved past the creek and continued North. Sure enough, I ran into that tourist trap and continued East.

I felt something weird. Like I was watched. I even saw a slim black figure in the corner of my eye, multiple times. I wouldn't be bothered and pass it off as an illusion, I've been seeing lots of those since I got my glasses, if it weren't for the fact that it's usually white or colored blobs and small black undefined figures, sometimes of anthropomorphous shapes, not a constant defined tall figure.

Again, I cannot tell for sure if I really _saw_ anything as I have no visual proof.

Though I _did_ take a couple pictures of some weird footprints.

That fact aside, the feeling of eyes on my back constantly can be explained when you take a more careful look around. All the trees, and I mean ALL have growths resembling eyes on their trunks. Real creepy. And feeling my chest tighten around itself was probably my cue to get out and away from them as soon as possible."

She closed her book. As good as nothing.

She leaned back on her palms and looked up into the sky obstructed by branches. She noted that not a lot of trees in this area had eyes on them.

 _Though what are those footprints?_

 _MAYBE IT'S A CREATURE YOU'RE NOT MEANT TO SEE._

There it was again.

 _How could I not be allowed to see something?_

 _I'M NOT SAYING NOT ALLOWED, BUT NOT MEANT._

 _Like there's a difference._

 _WELL, IT'S NOT LIKE YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO TALK TO YOURSELF, BUT YOU AREN'T MEANT TO._

 _I THOUGHT YOU WERE A SMART KID._

 _I am, and you're supposed to be a part of that "kid". Since when does my mind argue with itself?_

 _IT ALWAYS DID. IT'S ONLY STRONGER NOW._

"...Huh"

 _So I wasn't just seeing things?_

 _APPARENTLY._

 _And how would you know that?_

 _I'M THE BETTER HALF OF YOUR MIND. THE UNCONSCIOUS._

 _So how am I speaking to you?_

 _YOU FELL ASLEEP._

Promptly, Erika sat up into a sitting position and looked around.

"Augh, glasses again." She took them off and rubbed her eyes, "For how long was I out?"

 _HALF AN HOUR_

"Not again."

 _HEY, DON'T BE RUDE. YOU ASKED SO MANY QUESTIONS, NOW IT'S MY TURN._

"I thought you were supposed to be the smart part of me that already knew all that?"

 _OH PUH-LEASE, DON'T TELL ME YOU BOUGHT THAT UNCONSCIOUS THING._

"To be fair, it did seem a bit off..." Erika returned the glasses to her face, "So, I'll ask again, who are you?"

 _YOU CAN HEAR ME IN YOUR HEAD. DOES IT MATTER?_

"Very much so."

 _LOOK KID, I DON'T HELP SMARTASSES. ONLY BRAINIACS._

"Fine fine. .. Wait a minute, would you know about those headaches a day ago?"

 _NO IDEA_

"You caused them, didn't you?"

 _WELLY WELL WELL WELL, AIN'T SOMEONE SHARP._

 _YOU'LL FIGURE OUT WHEN THE TIME COMES._

* * *

"The voice didn't return that day.

Nor the day after that.

Or the one after that.

Just like that, I'm back to no clues

But there's something weird going on, **that** I'm sure of.

And I'm going to figure out **what**."

* * *

 **A/N: Welp, real quick. I still don't have a cover for this because I don't have my tablet, nor my scanner. Oh well, sometime in August.**

 **This is really more of a personal story I wanted to write out and it has just started, so it's understandable how little attention it's gotten.**

 **I can only hope it will gain more over the course of the story, but I'm fine either way.**

 **Next one coming soon!**

 ** _EDIT_ : First three chapters fixed up a little!**

 _ **EDITED ONCE AGAIN!**_


	4. Faith

**A/N: Whoop, got to keep it moving forward.**

 **This one, as you'll see in the first paragraph takes several weeks after the last chapter.**

 **As always, if you're puzzled by character description you can look it up on my dA account, name now the same as this account's! Additional note, at the end of the chapter I'll be pointing out references and additional info, so for easier information I'm going to mark certain paragraphs containing information I feel like I should credit with numbers in square brackets** [∞] **like so. I might miss some stuff, so I'll put it as "Intentional references." Point out things I forgot to add, and I'll tag them as "Unintentional references.".This system may or may not be used again. We good? As always, I don't own Gravity Falls, now let's roll the chapter!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 4:**_

 _ **Faith Is For**_

 _ **Fools**_

"Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Summer is slipping past my fingers and nothing's happening.

It's been weeks since that grating voice popped in my head, and not a single abnormal headache.

All I've found out is that the creature I found matches the description of 'Hidebehind' of American Folklore.

If what I 'saw' matches any other traits, then I'm lucky to have gotten out in one piece.

That's it.

That's how little I've gotten in the past weeks.

I'm writing this down while trying to will myself away from getting another bruise by banging my head against the wall."

And that's exactly what she did. She ventured through the forest, countless times, finding nothing. For a few days she couldn't even find the stump before it reappeared somehow. Though, prone to exaggerating, her "weeks" were in reality just a couple of days.

The book was filled with scribbles, traces of paper where there used to be now ripped out pages, as well as a drawing of the area around the stump.

Around it were quite a few mushroom circles which she noted and carefully avoided…

"There are a lot of them, yet strangely there are no fairies or fairy dust on them. Still, I avoid them. They're a fairy's greatest trap against a human."

...a big lake to which one of the small streams from the creek led...

"it's about twenty-twenty five meters in diameter and deep from the very edges, along with a small crater that's smoothed out and overgrown by grass. I suspect it's of meteor origin.

To test a theory, I dropped a pebble into it. It sunk for a long time before it finally fell so deep I lost it in the darkness. Keep in mind that it's a completely clear body of water. THAT'S how deep it is.

It will make a good swimming hole, I just have to remember not to dive."

… And a clearing in the woods.

"It's a curious place, really.

It appears normal at first glance, but in there are rhomboid patches of soil that seem fine and healthy, yet no grass ever grows on them.

If only I were to look at them from the air.. Unfortunately, the trees are too slim and tall for me to manage climbing one.

I left a camera to record one night and returned in the morning. I don't know if it was camera disturbance, but at some times of the night the soil without any grass glows very faintly in strange shades. If I had a camera that could record heat instead of just the image, I'd salvage more. Unfortunately, until I make a plan to successfully sneak out, I won't be able to see it myself.

Again, if I could only see it from the air.

I edited and uploaded to video to a hard drive I brought with me, then deleted the full recording.

There was nothing else that was interesting on it, and it ate away all the space on a nearly empty camera"

For her, that didn't count as much.

Sure, it was weird, those were anomalies, but they weren't _living_ oddities, and that was her only concern.

"Maybe I should take a break.. It wouldn't be weird if I was scaring the creatures with my constant exploring. Maybe I could meet up with Wendy..? Yeah, that would work. I'll ask her tomorrow."

"After all, she's the only one in this place that's worth talking to."

* * *

And as expected, tomorrow she set out for the Mystery Shack.

"Hey, Wendy!" She said, walking over to the counter

"Oh, hey dude. What's up?"

"I was just wondering, when you have a day off, we could go out for a hike." she said, forcing herself not to break the gaze away. Quite a taxing thing for her to do.

"Sure. What'd ya have in mind?"

"W-well, I found this place in the forest, it's great. A swimming hole, not many bugs, it's great."

"Sure. How about Saturday?"

"S-Saturday it is."

"Cool dude, I'll see you then."

Erika immediately headed out, bumping shoulders with a boy, causing him to drop a suitcase.

He seemed somewhat younger than her, had fluffy light brown hair, slight bags under eyes and…

 _Ew. He's all sweaty._

"Oh, s-sorry." he said, picking the bag back up.

Erika didn't respond, but just walked out. She could feel his eyes on her back. She is not keen on having another conversation, much less with a complete stranger.

 _What would someone with so much bags be doing at the Mystery Shack? As far as I know it's not a hotel._

 _Alright, never mind that now, I did what I wanted to._

Absentmindedly she headed into the forest.

 _I'd better get up early that day if I'm gonna bring any food.._

 _Oh man, did I even bring any swimsuits? I didn't count I'd find a nice place to swim at._

 _Maybe I should check out if they have any at the mall.._

 _I wonder how it'll go._

 _Hopefully that idiot Valentino doesn't get in the way._

 _He's seriously a pain in the-_

Mid thought, he foot got caught between a root and the ground and she fell flat on her face

"Augh.."

 _Stupid tree.._

 _.. Wait a minute_

 _How did I get here?_

Not even three meters in front of her stood a large stump. She could hear the quiet gurgle of a river…

No

A creek.

 _I thought it was in a different direction.._

She got up and collected her things, then headed to the stump.

 _Oh well, not like I'm complaining._

 _WELLY WELL WELL WELL_

Erika jumped at the sudden noise and turned around, searching for the source.

"Wh-who's there!?"

 _OH DON'T BOTHER, YOU WON'T FIND ANYTHING._

 _IT'S ME._

" 'Me'..?"

 _TSK TSK, YOU ALREADY FORGOT, HAVEN'T YOU?_

 _COME ON, OIL THOSE COGS IN YOUR SKULL ONCE IN A WHILE._

 _Wait a minute.._

 _That voice.._

 _DING DING DING, YOU'RE RIGHT!_

 _Why did you come back?_

 _WELL, I NOTICED YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A HARD TIME WITH YOUR "RESEARCH"._

 _FUNNY, THIS GIVES ME A DEJA VU._

 _S-so what if I have?_

 _IT OCCURED TO ME THAT YOU NEED A LITTLE HELPING HAND._

 _YOU KNOW, FROM SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING._

 _Hey, I know what I'm doing!_

 _OH PUH-LEASE, I'VE SEEN YOU WALKING AROUND THE FOREST PRAYING TO FIND_ ANYTHING _._

 _So what if I did? And what makes you think I'm going to take your help?_

 _WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I'M GOING TO HELP YOU?_

 _You just said so!_

 _I SAID YOU LOOK LIKE YOU NEED A LITTLE HELPING HAND, NOT MINE._

 _That… That's besides the point, I don't even know who you are!_

 _UGH, AS CAREFUL AS THE OTHER BRAINIAC. LOOK, I'M OFFERING HELP HERE, AND FOR SOMEONE SO SMART YOU SURE ARE DENSE._

 _I just want to know to what I'm agreeing, and with who is all._

 _FINE, WE'LL TALK LATER, TO SEE IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND._

 _BUT REMEMBER, SUMMER IS SLIPPING AWAY, KID._

 _Wait a minute!_

"Come back! You haven't answered anything!"

"What do you mean 'we'll talk later'!?"

"ANSWER ME!"

But no reply came.

Defeated and frustrated, she sat back onto the stump.

* * *

That night she had a strange dream.

And even stranger so, she was able to remember it clearly.

It was like a map, which she, of course, wrote down. She had enough experience to tell that dreams are fleeting and unstable when it comes to remembering them.

And there were also voices, like whispers.

No, it was the voice from the woods.

It was echoing even as she woke up.

" _IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND."_

" _IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND."_

With little hesitation, she headed outside, her log book in her hands.

It took over an hour of weird directions, looping around certain trees a certain number of times, but she finally arrived to..

A cave?

"Oh no. Nope. No fucking way. I am _not_ going in _there_."

 _But on the other hand there could be something important in there.._

 _And it doesn't seem that deep.._

 _But what if it caves in? Probably nobody knows where this place is._

 _It looks sturdy enough._

"Hnnghh..."

"..."

"You know what, fuck you brain." she put a middle finger to her temple as she ventured in, face slightly scrunched in discomfort.

She had a bad history with underground rooms and alike. As she shakily took out a flashlight, a memory flashed through her mind.

She shivered and thought about turning back.

 _No._

 _This is more important than some childish phobia._

 _Get over yourself, you good for nothing paranormal investigator_.

As she had expected, the cave was the typical small hole as if carved into the hill. It was tall enough for a larger person to walk, though it gradually shrunk into a small passage you'd have to crawl in. She wasn't going to go that far. She pulled out a flashlight and ventured inside.

Right away she realized that if she shone right in front of her, she could basically see the whole width and length of the cave, up to the point where it's just a small crawl space. That fact calmed her. Because it meant that if it came to it, she doesn't have much distance to run before the cave, well.. _Caves_ in.

The walls as well as the ground were smeared in ocher paint, mostly in shades of brown. Though at the far end, just as the cave gets narrow, something caught her eye.

A huge picture drawn with earthy red paint.

"It was gigantic, yellow triangle arms and legs, with a single big eye with a catlike pupil, it had a tophat and a bow tie, and its bottom half seemed like it was made out of bricks, like a pyramid." She later described in her journal, "It was drawn in a strange wheel, containing 10 symbols. Some of them seemed too new for it to be as old as it looked."

"There was a weird crescent sign that reminded me a little of Pac Man with a fish tail, a question mark, a bag of ice, a pine tree, a pair of glasses, llama, shooting star, pentagram, a stitched up heart, and a six fingered hand, in that order."

… _Wait._

 _That one looks like the heart from Robbie's weird hoodie._

 _And that weird crescenty Thingy looks like the thing on that old fart's fez._

… _Nah, that's nuts._

… _I'll look into it later._

"There was also an incantation written near the strange drawing. I'll write it down just in case..." she wrote, concluding the written description.

She snapped a picture with the digital and Polaroid camera, as well as drew it in the book.

Though halfway through the drawing something in her head clicked.

She backed away from the painting slowly until her back hit the opposite wall, book and pencil laying discarded on the floor. Instead, she grabbed the pendant of her necklace, closed her eye and put it in front of it.

The lines, the small engraved lines, it fit the thing on the wall. Even though the signs weren't engraved in the areas on the wheel on the pendant, it looked almost identical.

"You crazy old woman..." an uneasy yet elated grin stretched across her face, breathing still a tad too quick. This was amazing!

She finished the drawing, put everything she took out of her bag back in and ran outside, heading back to the town, breathy laughter escaping her.

 _I finally found something!_

* * *

 _Why the hell did I write everything that was on the walls? Most of those make no sense!_

 _If it's an ancient language then I'll get nowhere…_

Erika was once again up in her room, every glass surface covered, windows and doors shut, locked and if possible, bolted. She was staring at the Polaroid picture and the drawing, which she drew again on the other page, right by the first on, this time using rulers and a caliper, as well as a calligraphy pen ( _Finally, hours of practicing with the dumb thing have paid off._ ). She was proud with how neat the end product turned out.

 _Though I kinda doubt that the ancient civilizations used the modern day alphabet…_

 _The same could be said for the bag of ice and glasses though._

But both the writing and the drawing looked equally old as any other drawings, even though those seemed much more primitive.

"Maybe it really is encryptions.."

"I'm going to need some kind of a code list to see which cipher matches this one.."

And she searched the Internet (using her cousins' Wi-Fi) for possible ciphers.

 _What idiot makes a Wi-Fi Network named IsThisTheKrustyKrab and sets the password to be NoThisIsPatrick ?_ [1]

"Let's see, we have Caesar Cipher, which substitutes each letter by writing the third letter before that one… Then there's Atbash Cipher which substitutes the letter with one at the opposite end of the alphabet, like A is Z. And one which uses numbers to replace letters, but I don't think that one's going to be very useful with this."[2]

 _Some of those look a little like Latin..._

 _I'm gonna need more coffee to get through this._

Around 3 AM, she realized that almost no writings make any sense even when decrypted, except one that looked much, much newer than the others.

"A Being with answers" she read out loud.

She expected to be annoyed. She expected to be angry that she wasted hours upon hours trying to decrypt something, _anything_ , and all that was meant to be decrypted was this one sentence.

But she wasn't. Instead, knowing she found something as useful as an incantation to summon "A Being With Answers" was enough. All those emotions melted into something much more primitive;

Curiosity.

If you asked her now, she probably would explain what she did back then as "hasty" and the "result of too much coffee, fatigue and weeks facing a dead end"

In other words, she was desperate.

She read the incantation rather quietly, prior to that putting the pendant of her necklace in the middle of the "better" drawing.

Though, much to her confusion, and soon after anger, nothing happened.

She thought about knocking everything off the bench, she thought about throwing herself out the window. She thought about stomping on her glasses and ripping handfuls of her hair. _She thought about ripping her so called journal to shreds._

But in the end she just screamed into a pillow.

And for a good 30 minutes she did that.

When she finally rose head from her pillow she realized that everything was drained of color; just black, white, and shades of gray. Usually, she would blame it on pressing eyes into the pillow too hard, or lack of light, but there wasn't pressure behind her eyes, and the desk lamp was still on, illuminating the room in a colorless glow.

She sat up against the wall and rubbed her eyes, but the color would not go back into her vision.

"Uh…" her voice was shaky as her glance was split between her hands which had somehow preserved their color, bright and clear, and the doors, "Ivan? Isaac? Guys? Something's wrong with my eyes.."

She received no response.

She looked over to the digital watch on her desk.

 **3:51 AM**

 _Alright, just breathe and count your breaths. In. Out. In. Out._

After a while, she calmed and put on her glasses; no difference at all. She got up and uncovered the mirror on her table; same thing. Everything was void of color except for herself.

She looked at the clock again;

 **3:51 AM**

 _The damn thing must be broken.._ She tried to reason her thoughts as she checked her phone

 **3:51 AM**

She was sure it was at least five minutes since she last checked.

"Oh god.. Guys..!?" she said, heading for the doors and unlocking them.

 _Okay. Don't freak out. Heh, already a bit too late for that, eh?_ she thought to herself, walking down the stairs, counting on mindless rambling to calm her down. _There has to be an explanation to why this is happening._

Though, while she was walking she forgot about the loose 4th step that always crooked like it was about to break, the one she avoided either putting all her weight on or simply avoided it completely since she came there.

And this time, the step did what she'd feared it would last few weeks.

It collapsed under her weight.

It felt like somebody pulled the world from under her feet, her breath hitched at the sensation.

She squeezed her eyes shut and braced for the fall…

… Which never came.

She opened her eyes, only to be met by something like a void surrounding her; A vast space colored in many shades of blue.

"WELLY WELL WELL WELL" a loud voice spoke from her left..

And her right..

And all around her.

Before she could do much than note that, she was free falling towards trees below.

Usually, her first thought would be "where did those come from?", but having a fear of heights she screamed, once again bracing for impact.

She fell through numerous branches before finally landing into a body of water.

She sunk very deep, and by the time she got to surface she was completely out of breath.

Gasping for air and coughing, she grabbed for the edge of the.. lake?

Chest rising and falling rhythmically, she looked around herself frantically, gripping at loose soil and grass with hands and arms littered with cuts and scratches from the fall through the trees as an earthy smell filled her lungs.

It didn't take her long to realize she was floating in the swimming hole she spends so much time by.

"How..." she breathed hoarsely, looking up, fear once again claiming her features "What…?"

She pulled herself out of the water and backed away, seeing that everything was once again colored, but in such shades it looked like it was all washed out. And only to add up to her confusion, she saw she was no longer in her pajamas, but in her clothes from earlier that day; black T shirt, dark purple shorts and a blue sleeveless spring vest. She spotted her necklace in the grass by her, absentmindedly gripping it.

"Home..." she said to herself, "I have to head back." she blinked as she picked up on the sound of the nearby creek.

 _There. That way._

She got up wobbly, supporting herself against a tree trunk and headed towards the sound.

As soon as she could see the creek she could see the stump as well.

Her breath hitched when she saw someone- no, _something_ else sitting on it, back turned to her.

A glowing yellow triangle with a black tophat and limbs

"Who..?"

An eye and a black bowtie slid to the side facing her; she supposed it was meant to be like turning around.

It looked just like...

"FINALLY YOU'RE HERE." it spoke loudly, rolling its eye but noting in amusement how the human in front of it flinched at the sound. "TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH."

 _That voice…_

"SURPRISED TO SEE ME, EH GLASSES?" it stood up, "WELL, TA-DAH!" [3]

"Y-you're.. a-a-a..." she pointed at him meekly, at a loss for words. Or at least, a proper one.

"A-A-AMAZING? YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I AM!"

"But.. But.. what..?"

He could see from her expression it was too much for her to process.

Oh well.

A helping hand never hurts.

"YOU'RE PROBABLY WONDERING WHERE YOU ARE, RIGHT?" He looked directly at her, and continued when we got a small nod, "OF COURSE, A TINY HUMAN MIND CANNOT PROCESS THIS MUCH AT ONCE."

He threw his arms open and somehow spoke even louder

"WELCOME TO YOUR MINDSCAPE KIDDO!"

"M..mindscape?"

"YOUR MIND. DON'T MIND IF I DID A LITTLE CLEANING UP." he picked a Manga titled "Yuri Yuki's Love Life By Adanga" from a nearby bush. [4]

"That.. That's my-!" her face flushed a little when she saw the cover

"AREN'T YOU A LITTLE YOUNG TO BE READING THIS STUFF?" he opened it, flipping through a few pages before looking at her, "WOW, I DIDN'T KNOW HISPANIC PEOPLE COULD BLUSH SO VISIBLY."

"I'm not Hispanic!"

"FINE, FINE, _LATINO._ " He spoke obnoxiously, rolling his eye.

"It's not that either!" she said rather loudly

He laughed; it was a grating laugh, matching his voice. A first time of many she'd be hearing it. And the first time, she flinched at the unearthly sound of it.

"OF COURSE YOU'RE NOT, I ALREADY KNEW THAT. I KNOW A LOT OF STUFF" the triangle said, a few images flashing through his body before closing it and throwing the Manga back into the bush. He noted with satisfaction that the little trick threw her off guard. He's got to remember that for future use.

"Who do you think you are, snooping around my mind like this!?" she pointed an accusing finger at the equilateral shape.

"I'VE GONE BY MANY NAMES; THE ALL SEEING EYE, SNAPPY DRESSER LOU CIPHER, BILL ZEEBUB. BUT THERE WAS ONE I LIKED THE MOST," he tipped his tophat, leaning on a black cane that seemingly popped out of thin air "NAME'S BILL CIPHER, WHAT'S YOURS, GLASSES? NO, WAIT, I KNOW." He cut her off just as she opened her mouth, "ERIKA LANGLI, IS THAT CORRECT?" [5][6]

"How did you..?"

"WELL, IT'D BE RUDE NOT KNOWING THE NAME OF MY HOST."

 _That wouldn't be the first rude thing you've done._

"HEY, I HEARD THAT."

"Wait… Host?"

"YOU SUMMONED ME." he replied nonchalantly, "YOUR MIND IS MY HOST FOR TONIGHT, UNTIL YOU WAKE UP. THOUGH… WE CAN PROLONG THAT TIME. THROUGH A SIMPLE DEAL."

"W-why would I want to make a deal with a weird, mind reading triangle?" she asked, looking him over once again, still praying her eyes were playing tricks on her.

"BECAUSE, GLASSES, THERE'S A REASON WHY I WENT BY 'THE ALL SEEING EYE'. AND I'VE NOTICED YOU'VE MET A DEAD END IN YOUR 'INVESTIGATION'." He punctuated the last word by rolling his eye and fingering actual quotation marks into the air, "JUST LIKE AN OLD FRIEND OF MINE. I'D LIKE TO HELP YOU, AND IN RETURN I ONLY REQUEST A SMALL FAVOR. HOW DOES THAT SOUND?"

"I-I don't know..." she looked down, absently trailing over the wounds on her arms with her fingers.

"HERE, LET ME, KIDDO." he said, and with a snap of fingers, the cuts, scratches and bruises mended together. It was one of those things you didn't like to watch, but couldn't look away. He put a hand out "SO, WHAT DO YOU SAY? I'LL GUIDE YOU THROUGH THE GREATEST MYSTERIES OF GRAVITY FALLS."

She eyed his hand, logic steadily overrunning temptation "..And what's my end of the bargain?"

"UGH, AS POIGNANT AS HIM TOO.." he rolled his eye once more. Erika noted that he seemed to do that a lot. Maybe it was just her. "IN RETURN, YOU JUST HAVE TO LEND ME YOUR BODY, _BUT_ " He added just as she was about to protest, "ONLY FOR A SHORT WHILE, I WON'T DO ANY MORE HARM TO IT THAN YOU WOULD, UNLESS YOU AGREE TO IT. I WILL ALSO BAIL YOU OUT IF YOU REALLY HAVE A RUN IN WITH AN ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS CREATURE."

"… I'm already in over my head, aren't I?"

"KINDA."

"… Fine." she closed her eyes and sighed, missing the sparkle of twisted glee in his eye as his hand became alight with blue flames. Though slightly alarmed, she shook it, warm but not quite hot flames licking up her arm "It's a deal."

"I KNEW YOU'D COME AROUND. GREAT DOING BUSINESS WITH YA, KID. BUT AFRAID YOU'VE GOTTA GO. YOU SEE, I'M A _VERY_ BUSY TRIANGLE." He let go of her hand.

And just like that, world around them disappeared into black. Erika fell into the vortex of darkness, watching in horror as the floating, glowing yellow triangle disappeared from her vision.

* * *

She shot up in her bed, and immediately fell off as she did so; it was like waking up from one of those dreams in which you're freefalling to your death, but wake up just as you're about to hit the ground.

She was breathing hard as she scrambled to her knees, all wrapped up in her bed sheet. She took a moment to examine her surroundings. The color was back, all of it. The mirror on the desk was still covered by a rag, and sure enough, the doors were still locked and bolted. Finally, she let out a sigh of relief when she noticed the time on her digital clock moved from 4:23 to 4:24 PM.

"Oh thank god.." she wiped her forehead, encased in cold sweat. "It was all just a dream."

She froze when she looked at her palm.

" **THE DREAM IS REAL**

 **-Bill"**

 _Oh god no._

" **LOOK WHAT I DID TO YOUR OTHER HAND"**

Reluctantly she looked at what appeared to be a poorly drawn picture of a turkey across her whole hand with letters **"LOOK, A TURKEY!"** written on the middle. [7]

* * *

 **A/N: Ohhhhh yes. Quick updates!**

 **At first I wasn't very happy with this one, but it turned good when I decided to use references!**

 **But boy, wasn't this a long one. Twice as long as all the other ones, I'd bet.**

 **List of intentional references and additional notes. Don't read if you want to figure out certain things for yourself:**

 **[1]** _ **"Is This the Krusty Krab?" "No, this is Patrick"**_ **\- a Spongebob reference, somebody already used it as a gag Wi-Fi password, though I lost the source**

 **[2]** _ **"The list of ciphers"**_ **\- Source is the Gravity Falls wikia page containing encrypted messages and cryptograms.**

 **[3]** _ **"Glasses"**_ **\- If you guessed that he's referencing to the Zodiac, that is correct. Being fairly intelligent, she could easily fill up the place on the Zodiac, citation from Gravity Falls wikia:** _ **"**_ _ **A pair of glasses: This represents someone who is a scholar, and while**_ _ **Old Man McGucket**_ _ **is the one to stand on the symbol in the finale, it's stated that it has no specific carrier (person).**_ _ **"**_ **Even though it says scholar, that is a spoiler for the story.**

 **[4]** **"Yuri Yuki's Love Life" By Adanga - a Manga title and Mangaka name I came up on my own, and as far as I know no licensed story bears that name, if it does alert me and I'll replace it. As for the name, I hope no Mangaka (manga artist) already took the name. It's a mix of "Admin", (to how I refer to myself on my other social network accounts, such as Tumblr, instead of a real name), and "Manga". I wanted to write additional info, but it'd ruin the flow the situation had, so I'm putting it here.** _ **The cover depicts two young women in a loving embrace.**_ **Make of that what you will.**

 **[5]** **"Name's Bill Cipher" - Source is Gravity Falls Wikia: "His name is a combination of Bill, referring to the Eye of Providence which appears on dollar bills, and cipher, which is the algorithm for encryption or decryption.**

 **It may also be a reference to the names Lou Cipher (Lucifer) and Bill Zeebub (Beelzebub), which are common pseudonyms for Satan. Beelzebub is also viewed by some religions as one of the seven princes of hell and is known as the Lord of the Flies."**

 **[6]** **"Erika Langli" - Knowing as the name of the town is Gravity Falls, this reminded me of the city/town in Virginia where the show American Dad (which I'm a fan of) by Seth MacFarlane takes place, Langley Falls. So I twisted the name a little bit, and made it into her last name as an Easter Egg of sorts.**

 **[7]** **"LOOK, A TURKEY!" - This was supposed to be a part of a scene in which Bill and Dipper meet for the first time, but was scrapped. In this case, Erika is in Dipper's place. I thought it'd fit well, and if you haven't watched the original, the video is still available under search "Gravity Falls Deleted Scene"**

 **Also one last thing that doesn't fit anywhere in particular, it has been said that Bill thinks in all caps, so that's why I depicted his speech like that in this and earlier chapters.**

 **Speaking of those, next chapter: Hopefully, soon.**


	5. What's the catch?

**A/N: Well, we got the first part out of the way.**

 **So, basically, we're going to see a lot of these two from now on.**

 **Eh…**

 **Don't really have much more than that, it's late and I whipped up a 5 000+ words and nearly 25 000 characters in total for the last chapter in a day. Still not completely into the story, oh no siree. The best part when the summer is ending.**

 **Did you check out the Deleted Scenes video? You should.**

 **I'm starting to name chapters when I'm halfway done with them and seriously, I like it better like that. Comes out a bit better. Also a new Chapter naming strategy!**

 _ **EDIT:**_ **Mild graphic descriptions at the end of the chapter.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 5:**_

 _ **THE CATCH IS, DO**_

 _ **IT BEFORE I CHANGE**_

 _ **MY MIND**_

"I still can't believe you actually did that."

 _"WHAT? ALL IN GOOD FUN"_

"How did you even draw a turkey on my hand if you were in my mind?"

 _"BUSINESS SECRET."_

"... You made me draw it on my hand during sleep, didn't you?"

 _"AS SHARP AS EVER, GLASSES."_

"It took me ten minutes to wash it off you damn triangle."

A nerve grating laugh tore through the air, birds flying up as if they could hear it.

It had been almost a week since she made a deal with him, and apart from him annoying her 24/7 it was going pretty well. And as he promised, he was showing her all the vast anomalies of Gravity Falls. Gnomes, Flying eyeballs, Vampire bats, some abomination called "Leprecorn".

Today, they were strolling through a forest after a storm the day before; Erika thought she'd go crazy if she spent another minute with Bill in the house.

" _SOOOO, WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR TODAY, GLASSES?"_

"Stop calling me that."

" _FINE THEN, WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR TODAY, FOUR EYES?"_

"Actually, glasses is fine" she gave a sour smile, causing yet another burst of laughter.

 _God, I shouldn't have skipped my morning coffee._

"We're looking for fairies, if I'm not wrong."

" _OH YEAH, THOSE THINGS."_ The hologram-like image of bill pretended to look at its nonexistent nails, _"THEY USUALLY HANG OUT IN THE DEEPER CORNERS OF THE FOREST, NEAR THE GROW-SHRINK CRYSTALS I SHOWED YOU A FEW DAYS AGO. DON'T BE TOO LOUD, AND LEAVE ANY COMMUNICATION DEVICE OR MAN MADE MAGIC OBJECTS."_

Up to a few days ago she wasn't able to project an image of Bill outside of her mindscape, just his voice. Though, as she was still a kid, and had a very vivid imagination, the two cooperated to make Bill visible. Well, at least to her.

She wished they didn't as he was now able to manually project himself and scare the crap out of Erika on any and every occasion. It had led to quite a few uncomfortable dinners and trips to the supermarket.

They walked- well, Erika walked and Bill floated around, somehow managing to scare critters without a corporeal form.

"Hey, Bill?"

" _HM?"_

"Why is it that when I meet you in my dreams, everything turns gray?"

He hummed.

" _PROBABLY BECAUSE IT REMINDS ME OF MY OLD HOME."_

"What, a mind of a color blind person?"

" _HEY, I'M SUPPOSED TO BE THE FUNNY ONE"_

Another silence.

".. So where was your old home?"

" _SECOND DIMENSION"_ He said nonchalantly before noticing the way the human was looking at him, _"HEY, DON'T GIVE ME THAT LOOK, WE BOTH KNOW TRIANGLES AREN'T A THREE-DIMENSIONAL SPECIES."_

"Okay then, what are you?"

" _PLEASE KID, DON'T TELL ME YOU HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT YET."_

"… Some sort of a supernatural being?"

" _UGH, WE BOTH KNOW YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BIT BETTER THAN THAT?"_

"Deee...mon..?" the obvious slight discomfort was a bit discouraging, but the lack of receding made it enough for a vague conformation

" _I'M A_ FRIEND, _FOUR EYES."_ He said, " _AND IF YOUR RESEARCH AND BEING REQUIRED A DEMON AS A COMPANION, THEN THAT'S WHAT I AM._ "

"How is that any better than my initial question?"

 _"YOU TELL ME."_

"Hey, don''t take me wrong, I don't care as long as you don't make my head turn 360 degrees or make my pupils to roll back into my skull."

" _WELL, THAT WOULDN'T BE HARD TO TEST."_

"You promised doing no harm to my body while it's in your possession."

" _DO I LOOK LIKE SOMEONE THAT WOULD RESPECT A DEAL?"_

"I'm still debating on that. But if you don't, then I'm not lending you my body anymore."

" _IT'S NOT LIKE I CAN'T TAKE IT FORECFULLY.."_ Bill mused, his eye turning red and rest of him black, but after not getting a response, he reverted as his eye and voice both took on a more smug note, _"YOU_ WOULDN'T _STOP ME, WOULD YOU?"_

She would love to deny it, but...

" _WELLY WELL WELL WELL, NEVER TOOK YOU FOR SUCH A PERSON."_

"It's just out of curiosity."

" _YOU KNOW, TOYING AROUND WITH YOUR BODY CAN BE DANGEROUS."_ Bill mocked, amused by just how much believes him, or so he thought _"PEOPLE RUINED THEIR LIVES THAT WAY, AND NOT JUST BY POSSESION."_

"Yeah yeah, we're all horrible people, tell me something I don't know."

" _THREE FAMOUS EXCUSES IN ONE SENTENCE, A NEW RECORD."_

"Oh shut up." She rolled her eyes. "Besides, if you can forcefully posses people, then you can choose somebody with actual advantages. Like you would choose the body of a caffeine addicted teenager with shabby ankles."

Bill shrugged, _"YA GOT ME THERE."_

"At least once you admit defeat.." Erika sighed

"… And STOP reading that!" She snapped her head towards Bill, making Yuri Yuki's Love Life Volume 3 to disappear from his hands. This one had a little more.. suggestive cover. Bill noted the embarrassment wash across her features. Beings with more than just an eye for a face were so much easier to read!

" _WHAT ELSE TO DO, YOU'RE ABOUT AS INTERESTING AS A STALE CORN CHIP."_

"You mean you."

" _LOW BLOW, GLASSES. BESIDES IT'S WEIRD TO SEE JAPANESE HAVE MADE SUCH A PROGRESS IN ART IN THE LAST COUPLE CENTURIES. DID YOU SEE THEIR ART BEFORE? IT'S LIKE THE BOOGEYWOMAN FROM DIMENSION 54 ALL OVER AGAIN."_

"You can say that again."

Another stretched silence. This time Bill was fiddling with a piece of paper and wearing a monocle.

"What are you doing with that?"

" _YOU LIKE CODED MESSAGES, NO? WELL, HERE'S A LITTLE SOMETHING SO YOU DON'T GET BORED AT NIGHT. I EXPECT YOU'LL SOLVE IT IN LESS THAN THREE DAYS."_

"I never agreed to solving any messages."

" _WELL TOO BAD BECAUSE I'M GONE FOR THE NEXT WEEK AND YOU'LL GET YOUR CLUES FROM HIDDEN MESSAGES."_

"With all the stuff you do how did anyone stand you?"

" _HEY, SOME WORSHIPPED ME. I'M ON THE NEGATIVE 12 DOLLAR BILL."_ He said, _"AND BESIDES, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS LOOK AT SOME WINDOWS OF THE MYSTERY SHACK AND YOU'LL SEE ONE MY MOST RECENT ONES."_

"That old fart worshipped you?"

" _NOT QUITE, BUT THAT'S A STORY FOR ANOTHER TIME. … HEY, YOU WANT A-"_

"I already said no Bill. It was neat at first but the deer teeth smelled and I wasn't able to concentrate on everything with that damned head screaming. I managed to mess up scrambled eggs because of it. Who messes up scrambled eggs!?"

" _YOU APPARENTLY"_

She growled and he laughed.

Just another day.

* * *

 _Alright, today's the day._

" _FOR WHAT?"_

 _Be quiet just for today, Bill, I'm going out with a friend._

" _WHAT, THAT CU-U-UUTE RED HEAD?"_

 _Stop that._

"Wendy! Are you ready?"

"I'll be down in a minute!"

Erika swayed back and forth lazily in front of the house of the Corduroys; despite the fact that the storm was two days ago, now it was again as hot as it was beforehand. Many of the townsfolk went swimming and fishing, making every other swimming hole, lake or public pool awfully crowded.

Erika would bet Bill her body for three hours that the Northwests had their private pool.

Not the upcoming three hours, though.

"Hey dude." Wendy said as she walked out of her house, "Ready?"

"I-I should ask you the same question.."

"I've gotta tell ya, I've lived here for fifteen years, no way there's a swimming hole I don't know for yet."

"Y-you'd be surprised.." even past the stutter an uncharacteristically smug undertone slipped past her lips as she turned around and started walking.

"Whatever you say." Wendy shrugged it off

" _DON'T YOU THINK SHE FINDS IT TEDIOUS HANGING WITH SOMEONE TWO YEARS YOUNGER THAN HERSELF?"_

 _It's only a year, dipshit._

" _I KNOW HER DAY OF BIRTH.."_ Bill gazed upon his hand in a leisure gesture again, _"WANT TO SEE WHO'S RIGHT?"_

Erika grumbled silently.

" _IT'S JULY 26TH!~"_ Bill chimed, making sure his tone was tastefully nerve grating.

Now, that was the point Erika would jump towards the hologram and scream at him. But because Wendy was there, it would either look like she was yelling at her, or like she just escaped from an insane asylum.

With Erika's luck, it'd probably be both.

She could tell he knew this, and that he was using it to spite her. With reluctance, she made a pile of "Yuri Yuki's Love Life" Manga appear by Bill, along with the paper of ciphers he's been writing (to be frank, it looked a lot like a roll of toilet paper by then).

" _THAT'S HOW I LIKE YA."_ He said, getting right back onto reading.

"Uh, dude?" Erika's head snapped towards her head before she realized her fists were clenched so tightly her knuckles were all pale, "Are you okay? You've been muttering about some triangle the last couple of minutes."

"Er..." Erika stopped, trailing her look over her surroundings as she tried to think of a good response. She could see Bill looking at pages of YYLL without reading them, endless amusement in his eye.

"It was a Dorito!" she blurted out

"A.. dorito..?"

"Y-yeah, a dorito!" She started less confidently but started building it back up with every word, "Y-yesterday, I tried them for the first time. They had such strong taste that I gagged, and nearly choked on one. My throat still hurts."

"Whoa, seriously dude?"

" _CUTE SAVE, KID."_

"Y-yeah." Erika continued, scratching her sweat doused scalp, "We don't have snack of such a strong artificial taste at home. If I ate all of it at once, I'd get an ulcer on my stomach, no doubt."

"Oh. Well, that sucks. You alright now?"

Erika breathed, _She bought it, thank goodness._

"Yeah, let's just continue."

"Honest, dude, I don't think I've ever been to this part of the woods." Wendy looked around herself, trying to pick up any familiarity. Nothing.

"We should be close." she said, taking out a wrinkled piece of paper out of her pocket.

 _But.. if we're so close, how come I can't hear the creek?_

"Right.. here!" Erika exclaimed as they stepped into an empty plain. The growths on the trees surrounding them looked like they were staring at them. Erika could feel a shiver go up her spine

"This.. doesn't look like what you described.." Wendy said, looking around.

"But.. wha..? I don't understand!" Erika said, walking onto the plain, "It was here, it _should_ be here! I even marked the..!"

But when she turned, she saw the tree she marked was gone. The single naked pine tree she marked was gone.

" _Bill."_ was her first thought as her head snapped to the projection of the demon, who pretended he wasn't there and seemed to actually be reading the Manga.

"Look dude, don't be upset." Wendy smiled a little, "I'm sure you just messed up the maps, no biggie. We can still have a picnic."

"… N-no Wendy, it's too hot to just be sitting out in the open. You.. You go with your dad and brothers to the public pool for today, I'll join you later, maybe."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I have to go find the map, you just use this one so you don't get lost, I know my way out." she said, pushing the wrinkled, folded piece of paper into her hands, "I'll.. I'll see you later."

"… If you say so, dude." Wendy gave a light shrug and headed back the path they came from. Erika went her own way, head hung low.

Though, after less than a couple of minutes her ears picked up a familiar sound;

Gurgling of a creek.

Her head snapped back to the source as she changed her direction, her steps quickened.

Surely enough, she was back at the stump. The little, perfect, secure oasis. It had been where the field stood, empty and bare, just minutes ago.

A familiar voice spoke from behind her.

" _YOU GET IT NOW, DON'T YOU?"_

* * *

" _YOU KNOW, KID. IF THERE IS ONE THING THAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU, IT'S THAT I DON'T HAVE TO MAKE EVERY WORD I UTTER A FLATTERING LIE."_

"I wouldn't mind if you did.." Erika muttered, looking down to her lap, head in her hands.

" _NO THANKS."_ Bill rolled his eye _"THE LAST TIME I HAD TO DO THAT FOR A FEW YEARS, IT WAS A MAJOR PAIN IN THE ANGLE. AND EVEN BETTER, I CAN TELL YOU NO HOST OF MINE_ EVER _MESSED UP A DATE THIS BAD, WITHOUT SUGARCOATING IT!"_

"It was not a date!" the words came out louder than she initially thought they would. A little pale redness took on her cheeks upon realizing how defensive it sounded, so she decided the best card was playing it like it never happened.

"And a little sugarcoating would be fine.." A tone of bitterness crept into her voice as she glanced over to the damned projection of an even more damned creature. "Sure would beat your non stop smartass responses."

" _I THOUGHT THAT'S WHAT YOU DID. AND BESIDES.."_ He waved his index finger a little, closing his eye, _"IT'S NOT PRONOUNCED 'SMARTASS', IT'S 'SMARTANGLE'."_

"Maybe in your dimension, freak!" she snapped her head at him and she lashed out, pointing an accusing finger at him, "You've been nothing but an utter pain in the ass the whole week! Don't think I'm going to stand this forever, you triangular sack of-"

" _ **HEY."**_ Bill's form abruptly inverted to its black and red nightmare palette as he flied right into her face, causing her to nearly topple over the stump, voice a much lower pitch. _**"LET'S NOT FORGET**_ **I** _**CAME TO YOUR AID,**_ **KID.** _ **AND I CAN COLLECT MY PART OF THE DEAL AND LEAVE ANY TIME I WANT."**_

Erika stared at the monstrous form with a mortified expression, now clutching her book to her chest. And Bill flashing pictures of possible things he could do with the body through his own wasn't helping one bit.

" _ **DO YA GET ME, TOOTS?"**_ Upon receiving a meek nod from the small human, he went back to normal and floated away, arms folded behind back, _"GLAD WE'RE ON THE SAME PAGE, KID."_

* * *

After a good half an hour of Bill goofing around with different ways and angles of reading Erika's "Shame Stash" how he nicknamed it, and Erika just floating in the seemingly bottomless swimming hole, the whole thing was more or less forgotten. It had been a long silence before the human finally spoke up.

"Hey, Bill?"

" _HM?"_ He spared her a look

"How come this place disappeared when I brought Wendy over, but magically reappeared when I was alone?"

" _FIFTH WORD TO THE END AND YOU ALREADY ANSWERED YOURSELF."_

"Huh?"

" _MAGIC, GLASSES. MAGIC."_

"… Expand, please."

" _THIS IS A MAGICAL PLACE. NO, RATHER A PLACE WHERE MAGIC IS VERY DENSE, BUT PEACEFUL. A PRETTY RARE OCCURANCE, AS THE STUFF MOSTLY GETS HOSTILE TOWARDS NON-MAGICAL OR INFERIORLY MAGICAL BEINGS WHEN IN HIGH CONCENTRATIONS. FULL OF ITSELF."_

"You're talking as if it's alive."

" _ISN'T IT?"_

"… You still haven't answered my question."

" _YOU DISCOVERED IT FIRST."_ Bill looked back onto the comic from the far East, _"UNINTENTIONALLY AS WELL. THE MAGIC DIDN'T FEEL LIKE IT SHOULD SHUT YOU OUT AS IT DIDN'T SENSE YOU TRYING TO USE IT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE."_

He flipped a page.

" _SO IT LET YOU IN. AND WHILE YOU WERE THERE IT LEFT A MAGICAL IMPRINT ON YOU. LIKE A DISTINCT SCENT. PERSONALLY, I WOULD'VE GUESSED IT WAS YOUR BODY ODOR AT FIRST."_ He shrugged, _"BUT APPARENTLY IF YOU TRY TO BRING IN A GUEST, OR SOMEONE ELSE COMES HERE, THEY WON'T SEE IT. IN A WAY, YOU CLAIMED IT AS YOURS, AND YOURS ALONE."_

".. Jesus." she looked back up into the sky, "So, nobody else can get here?"

" _THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT."_

"Because I'm the only one marked with the magic of this place.."

" _WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH THIS, GLASSES?"_

"… Can I use that magic in any way?"

Bill looked at her, a little interest sparking up in his eye.

Well well, it had _really_ been quite a while since anybody considered that.

" _WELL..."_ He mused, straightening up as the Manga and the ciphered toilet paper roll message disappeared, _"_ I _COULD TEACH YOU A FEW TRICKS.. FOR THE RIGHT_ _ **PRICE**_ _, OF COURSE."_ He extended his arm as it lit up in blue flame, eying the contempt spreading over Erika's face like a wildfire over a dry forest.

Though, past all that he could see that she was considering it.

 _Seriously_ considering it.

He suddenly seemed much too real, much too _physical_ to be an illusion.

Just as she was about to shake his hand, she pulled hers back to herself. The dream demon unwillingly flinched at the reaction, knowing well what's coming next.

"I want to know what I'm agreeing to."

Bill rolled his eye. Never an easy road with her.

"YOU'RE AGREEING TO ME TEACHING YOU BASIC MAGIC, IN EXCHANGE FOR A MORE FREE USE OF YOUR BODY." He said nonchalantly, "SUCH A THING IS NECESSARY, GLASSES. I'M A BEING OF PURE ENERGY, AND THAT'S WHAT MAGIC IS. IT'S ENERGY. TO BETTER GET IN TOUCH WITH IT, I'LL HAVE TO DEMONSTRATE, AND FOR THAT I NEED A VESSEL. YOU WRITING THIS DOWN?" He added sarcastically.

"N-no. No need to." she extended her arm with still a bit doubtful expression mismatching her confident tone, "It's a deal."

She could see the glee in his eye as blue flames burned everything away.

Before she knew it, she was shooting into a sitting position; she was still disoriented, and she didn't remember falling asleep.

Though, when she saw that she was lying on a towel in the crater around the swimming hole, it came back to her that she was exhausted after a long swim.

As she looked down to her hands, she could swear she saw the lingering vision of blue fire engulfing her hands, burning out her skin and eating away at the flesh until it was just blackened bones.

She shuddered as she recognized it as one of the things Bill flashed her to get her back in line after snapping. Surely enough, the rest of the images had seeped in soon. Tremors continued even as she grabbed for her arms to still them, she could swear she still felt the stinging sensation of countless wounds from her first trip to the mindscape.

 _It'd better be worth it._

" _OH, DON'T WORRY, TOOTS."_ Bill chimed, his form floating above her, leaned on her head.

" _ **I'LL MAKE IT WORTH IT."**_

* * *

 **A/N: Wowie, this one took a longer time to put together. A little over 3000 words altogether, for you guys!**

 **Story's back in business, baby.**

 **And who knew all it took to get it up and running was reading an old, gory fic with death of the OC representing myself in my friend's and my fictional universe. Ah, May Memories.**

 **And also remembering the scene a couple of chapters ahead I was dying to write, the concept I based this whole thing on. Couldn't just wait for a peeeerfect chapter to come along, so I thought this up as I wrote it. Hopefully it's good. I just want to keep the story going.**

 **Also, I was planning to update U:TA soon too, so y'all hang on!**

 **Oh, on an additional note, the "Dorito experience" part of the dialogue was based on the first time I tried doritos. Seriously, you folks in the USA reading this, how do you eat more than one bag in a lifetime of that? I had to eat it with cream to mellow out the taste. Then it tasted just fine, actually!**

 **Anyways, enough rambling.** **I don't own Doritos as a company/product trademark, nor Gravity Falls.**

 **Next update:** **Hopefully soon!**

 _ **EDITED! UPDATED A MAJOR DIALOGUE**_


	6. Magic and Mystery Bites

**A/N: Chapter six, in which magic happens. Literally.**

 **Whew, we had a bit of a hold up. I used that time to rewatch the series and clean up the past chapters a little bit. Some typos were fixed and some additional info was thrown in!**

 **Gonna need to up my game with this fanfiction though. I'm not sure, but it looks like my previous storytelling skills were a bit better. Now it all feels kinda rushed.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 6:**_

 _ **Magic And Mystery**_

 _ **Bites**_

" _Seriously_?"

"TRUST ME, GLASSES, NO BETTER WAY TO LET THE MAGIC IN THAN YOGA!"

They had once again been in the mindscape, back at the small, orderly oasis around the stump.

… Or at least it had been, before Erika took a hold of the place. Bill still stuffed everything in the bushes when she wasn't there, and as a result she had trouble finding right words and info. She had spent dream hours, real life minutes, in rearranging the whole thing. As a result, the whole thing looked a lot like her room.

"How is yoga going to help me do magic!?"

"YOU'LL GET IN TOUCH WITH YOUR UNCONSCIOUS."

"I _am_ in my unconscious."

"NOT EVEN A STRETCH?"

" _No_ " she growled, "I am not doing any more exercise than walking and swimming with my awful joints of a damn 80 year old."

"IT'S NOT EXERCISE"

"Why don't you just start with the lesson already?"

"BECAUSE I'M NOT DONE DOING THE RIGHT TRIANGLE"

"You ARE a triangle, you oversized nacho!" she yelled

"NACHO BUSINESS, GLASSES."

Erika blinked before the joke broke through to her, followed by a frustrated glare. Last time she tried to scream she woke herself and half the street up. Bill just laughed, he loved getting that reaction.

After a while she sighed, dropping her face into her palms.

"Just… Let's do this before I lose the little sanity you've left me with."

"WELL, YOU SEE HERE, THERE'S A LIL' PROBLEM."

"What kind of a problem _now_?" she muttered in frustration.

"YOUR BODY'S REALLY TERRIBLE AT DOING IT."

"… You better not be saying what I think you are, because then the deal's off."

"HEY, WOAH, HOLD UP, KID." Bill put his hands towards her in mock defense, "I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU'RE INCAPABLE OF MAGIC, ONLY THAT I CAN'T TEACH YOU MUCH. YOU'RE JUST KIND OF… MAGIC-DISINCLINED."

"Get to the point, fall leaf." she pinched the bridge of her nose, voice betraying how annoyed she really was.

"MY POINT IS, FORGET ABOUT FLYING, FIRING MAGIC BEAMS, CREATING ILLUSIONS, INVADING SOMEONE'S BODY AND THAT STUFF." Bill replied, as blunt and uninterested as always, like they were talking about the weather, "YOUR BODY WON'T BE DOING YOU ANY FAVORS WITH THAT."

"But.. That's all the cool shit!" she protested.

"YEAH WELL, YOU CAN BLAME YOUR BODY AND BLOODLINE FOR THAT, IT'S WHAT YA TEENAGERS DO FOR THE MOST PART."

Erika grumbled to herself in her mother tongue.

"HEY NOW, THOSE AREN'T WORDS YOU JUST THROW AROUND."

"Save it." she returned sharply, head snapping up at him, "If I can't do anything like that, then what _can_ I do?"

"WELL, YOU CAN HEAL YOURSELF, MAYBE WITH SOME LUCK OTHERS. YOU CAN'T REALLY MANIPULATE GRAVITY AS FAR AS FLOATING THROUGH THE AIR, BUT YOU COULD EASE A FALL A BIT. AND YOU CAN SERVE AS SORT OF AN OUTLET FOR ME."

"Outlet?"

"A CLIP, AN EXTENSION CORD, CALL IT WHATEVER YOU LIKE. YOU CAN SERVE AS A MEDIATOR THROUGH WHO I CAN POSSESS OR ACCESS ANOTHER PERSON EASIER."

"Well, that sounds like a picnic..." Erika rolled her eyes, "Can we start with the healing? Sounds like the most sensible thing to do."

"SURE SURE."

* * *

"Eri."

"Erriiiiiii."

"Whaaat?" Erika groaned, rolling over in her bed

"It's, like an hour past noon and you're still sleeping." Ivan continued, noticing he got her attention.

"So?" she was obviously half asleep and cranky.

"So you went to sleep really early yesterday. You never do that." he continued, "You coming down with something?"

"I'm not sick, you dingus."

"Then get up, there's a wax figure exhibition."

"Oh yeah?" she muttered, still completely unamused.

"That old guy at the Mystery Shack opened up a real thing, let's go see it!"

"No way."

"She's still pissed at the old codger." Isaac said as he walked by the room

"Welp, your loss." the other brother got up and walked downstairs. Only when she heard the main doors closing for the second time she sat up in bed, fumbling around for her glasses.

" _MORNING, GLASSES."_ An erratic voice spoke all around her, making her wish she could just go back into dreamless sleep, _"READY FOR SOME YOGA?"_

"Remind me why this is necessary?"

" _COME ON, IT WORKS BETTER IF YOU STRETCH A LITTLE. NOW, RIGHT TRIANGLE, HOP ONTO IT"_

She groaned, reluctantly stretching her form to the right, touching her foot with her right and raising her left arm, her vertebrae popping into place as she did so.

" _GREAT, NOW DO AS I SHOWED YOU LAST NIGHT."_

"I have no open wounds, Bill."

" _REALLY? NOT EVEN A SCRATCH?"_

"No. I haven't seen any of _my_ blood for nearly a month and a half now."

" _SHEESH, NEVER TOOK YOU FOR THE BORING TYPE, BUT AT LEAST YOU'RE NOT FALLING VICTIM TO THE CLICHES."_

"Still not funny."

 _"ANYWAY,_ _LOOKS LIKE WE GOTTA DROP IT FOR A WHILE. BUT I HAVE A FEELING WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO USE IT_ VERY _SOON."_ He clapped his hands together, _"NOW, WHO'S UP FOR SOME GREMLOBLIN HUNTING?"_

* * *

"BILLLLL!" Erika shrieked, running downhill despite her legs as a roar tore through the air.

Theeere was the screaming piled up from the last three nights.

" _OKAY, LEFT. NOW RIGHT. RIGHT. RIGH- NO, YOUR OTHER RIGHT."_ Bill gave directions, resting lazily on Erika's head. If he had a physical form, he would be flailing by the ends of its appendages. Still, he had to give her credit, he didn't think those legs could keep the pace she started with.

"WHAT THE HELL DO I DO!?" Erika shrieked at him, perfectly knowing that he can hear her without speaking.

" _RUN AND PRAY FOR YOUR LIFE."_ He replied, _"NOT THE BEST IDEA TO SPRAY HIM WITH WATER."_

"YOU TOLD ME TO DO THAT!"

" _NO, I SAID USE WATER, BUT ONLY AS LAST RESORT BECAUSE HE GROWS WINGS AND GOES REALLY BATSHIT INSANE. SHOULD'VE LET ME FINISH, BRAINIAC."_

"IF YOU EVER GET A CORPOREAL FORM I SWEAR I'LL WRING YOUR HYPOTHETICAL NECK!"

A nerve grating laugh tore through the air, followed by a bellowing roar and above it all, screaming.

After a while though, the enormous hybrid flew into a tree. The Gremloblin knocked it over, the trunk nearly collapsing onto the human, she was as safe as she could be.

Erika sat under a tree, shaking and trying to catch her breath. She was littered in scratches, cuts, bruises and a few littered first to second degree burns.

" _WELL, SO MUCH FOR NO EXERCISING."_

".. Bill?" Erika rasped

" _YEAH?_ "

"Go to hell."

* * *

" _Are you sure this is a good idea?"_

"PUH-LEASE, KID. ALL IDEAS ARE GOOD IDEAS."

" _Not all yours."_

"ALL IDEAS, KID."

 _Erika stood behind a tree, staring at the huge hunk of a monster resting several feet away. After assuring herself that it was fast asleep she walked closer, taking out her journal and started describing it._

" _It's a huge creature which is, as Bill said, a hybrid of a gremlin and a goblin. It's huge, covered in various fungus and hair, so if you take out the razor sharp spines coming out of its back, it can easily be mistaken for a heap of dirt overgrown by weeds._

 _Its skin is dark green and is covered in blotches of various shades. it has big ears, and a foul stench._

 _Bill also mentioned that its claws emit neurotoxins, that it can breathe fire and that if you look into its eyes, you can see your worst nightmare. I'm not that curious to see my worst fear, so I'll just take him for his word. Though judging from the look in his eye, if I decided to experiment with it I wouldn't be the first one." she wrote._

"HOWSABOUT WE WAKE IT UP?"

" _Bill, no." she whispered._

 _Just as she was gluing the picture she snapped with the Polaroid camera, the beast stirred, sniffing._

 _Erika stepped behind a tree and stood there, waiting in silent horror for the beast to go back to sleep._

 _Not long after, there was a loud thump, signalizing that the beast was down again. Erika dared a look to clarify, and much to her relief the Gremloblin was asleep again. She dropped her face into her palm, raising glasses over to her forehead. She heaved a sigh._

" _Okay..." she managed in a shaky voice, just above a whisper, removing hand from her face "It didn't see me. I think we should get going while we can, B-"_

 _The menacing face of a Gremloblin was all in her space of vision._

 _The real gremloblin woke with a start as a scream the pitch only dogs should be able to hear tore through the air._

* * *

" _AW COME ON GLASSES, DON'T LOOK SO PEEVED. THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!"_

"I look like someone ran me over."

" _IN THIS CASE A GREMLOBLIN"_

"You know, for a being with no mouth you talk an awful bunch."

" _HEY, LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, YOU CAN FINALLY TEST THE HEALING."_

"This better work, or else our deal is off. _Both_ of them."

" _SHEESH KID, RELAX. ALWAYS WITH THE 'NO DEAL IF THIS, NO DEAL IF THAT' ."_ He rolled his eye, putting his twig thin hands to his sides. Erika wondered exactly how easy it would be to snap them in two. _"YOU'D BETTER CONCENTRATE OR ELSE YOU'LL END UP TURNING YOUR SKELETON INSIDE OUT. DON'T WANT TO LOSE_ ANOTHER _GOOD HOST THAT WAY."_

Erika felt her stomach constrict slightly at the thought, but was quick to shrug it off. She started with her hands,squeezing each with the other and shutting her eyes.

 _Think about healing. About serenity. Peace. Recovery._

It took her a good five minutes to calm the tremors persistently shaking her body, lingering adrenaline making her far more jumpy than she should be.

"Low dlfmwh nvmw, nzpv illn uli mvd lmvh, nzb gsvb mvevi xlnv." she repeated, feeling goosebumps going over her hands and up from neck, cross the pate and forehead to her eyes. "Low dlfmwh nvmw, nzpv illn uli mvd lmvh, nzb gsvb mvevi xlnv."

After chanting it seven times, she dared to open her eyes; Not a single scratch. Though another familiar sensation picked at her lungs, rising up her throat, Joy and pride crawling their way into her mind.

" _PRETTY NEAT, HUH?"_

"That would be understating it!"

" _JUST BE CAREFUL, ONE WRONG WORD AND THE MENDING MIGHT BE MORE PAINFUL THAN THE WOUND."_

When the words got through, Erika blinked.

"… Could the opposite happen?" She looked from her hands back up to the half-transparent image of Bill, "If it went the wrong way, could the chant open new wounds, but induce a pleasant feeling?"

The dream demon blinked at her question for only a moment. If she had enough time to examine the reaction, she could even process it as surprise. But unluckily for her, and luckily for him, a voice brimming with glee, sharp as razor, cut through the train of thought.

" _OH-HO-HO! I LLLIIIKE THE WAY YOU'RE THINKING GLASSES!"_

He saw the way she gave a faint smile; just as any of those dumb beings, she liked to be praised.

 **Pathetic.**

As he went into theory with her, he felt something bubble up inside of him, a thought forming in his hypothetical brain. He just might be able to make something of the idiot.

Something that was of much more use than just a dumb skin sack 'understudy'.

Just as every other human, she liked to be praised.

As not every other human, she liked to know _everything_ into extreme details.

As most other humans are, she was naive.

As little other humans were, she went into darker corners for no particular reason.

That was all Bill knew, and needed to know. It was all he cared to know.

From that point on, he watched his wording. As if he was impressed by her, in reality lacking potential. He threw in just enough irritating smugness not to make it suspicious.

"Hey, look, I actually healed them all up!" She beamed, looking at her whole body, from toes to collarbones, it was all back in place, "Sure, there are a few scars, but nobody will notice a little discoloration on the skin, right, Bill?"

" _YEAH YEAH, DON'T BREAK AN ARM PATTING YOUR BACK, KIDDO. WE STILL HAVE LOTS OF THINGS TO DO. MOSTLY YOU."_

".. You don't mean that roll of ciphers?"

" _DING DING DING, YOU GUESSED IT! AND YOU HAVE A FULL WEEK TO DO SO, GLASSES. SEE YOU TONIGHT!"_

* * *

 **A/N: Not much happening now, but you'll see.**

 **I'm really eager to get to the major plot point, but I have to make a few filler chapters, character development, antics and such. But after that, we're probably going to cut after the Sock Opera episode, and I'm sure you people are already onto why.**

 **Welp, that's it for today. See ya next update!**

 _ **EDITED!**_


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